


dreamscape。

by aesterismo



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball, Persona 3, Persona 4
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-19
Updated: 2012-12-19
Packaged: 2017-11-21 14:30:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/598820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aesterismo/pseuds/aesterismo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one knows that there’s more than twenty four hours in a day.  No one knows that better than SEES - Seirin Extracurricular Execution Squad, a group of high school students who are all too aware of the dangers the 25th “Dark” Hour presents.  And no one knew just what they were getting into when Kagami Taiga and Kuroko Tetsuya joined their ranks - not in the least.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 「 glossary。 」

**Author's Note:**

  * For [highboys](https://archiveofourown.org/users/highboys/gifts), [yukirei](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yukirei/gifts), [choir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/choir/gifts).



> For those unfamiliar to the SMT/Persona universe, many of these terms will be new information. So for the sake of those from the Kurobasu fandom who might not be as familiar with the Persona 3 and Persona 4 terminology - and for the sake of those like myself who enjoy explanations for everything and world-building - I've included a glossary of sorts that will serve as a reference for all who read this fic. I hope it helps and keep in mind that this list WILL be updated as more chapters are posted, so check back here if new terms appear and you aren't sure of the reference(s) being made!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the benefit of those who might not be familiar with the Persona/SMT universe (and for the sake of world-building authors like myself who like to keep things organized), here are a few of the many terms used throughout the story. This list will be added to as I add more chapters and delve further into the world of "dreamscape" so do refer back to this chapter as the story continues!

** Important Terms **

**DREAMSCAPE、**  
An alternate reality in which magic and Personas exist; also known as a "BARRIER," as it protects matter in the mortal realm from being altered or otherwise destroyed.  Shadows within the Dreamscape are born from the magical imbalances that occur within it when the walls connect and Synchronize with strong human emotions.  If a person has the Potential and/or a Persona, they can enter a Barrier with relative ease.  If they do not, then they will be Transmogrified when caught under the 'umbrella' of the Barrier and will only awaken when the creator of the Barrier allows it to come down.  A Barrier takes on both the physical characteristics of the area in which it was placed as well as the projection of the Barrier creator's deepest desires, wishes, and fears.  
  
 **PERSONA、**  
The power harnessed by the heart to overcome life's hardships.  Many have the Potential but only some can harness their Persona's abilities and wield it during the Dark Hour and within a Barrier.  A Persona can change depending on several factors (i.e. magical affinity, Arcana, the phases of the moon during the Dark Hour, etc.) or if the person undergoes the self-actualization process and comes to accept their Persona as another part of themselves.  
  
 **POTENTIAL、**  
The ability to use and harness a Persona's power.  After experiencing a great shift in their emotional and physiological perspective(s), a person often resorts to using their Persona as a defense mechanism.  In combat against the Shadows, SEES use their Persona Potential as a means to protect themselves and uncover the true nature of Tartarus.

 **EVOKER、**  
In order to unlock one's Potential, SEES uses Evokers as a means to tap into their psyche and release their Personae.  As it's meant to tap into the recesses of one's deepest anxieties/psychoses and unleash them as supernatural power, it was fashioned in the shape of a gun to remind SEES members that fear of death is, in no small part, what makes them human.  
  
 **THE DARK HOUR、**  
A day has more than twenty-four hours to it - and the time between one day and the next is the ever-elusive Dark Hour.  Most people "sleep" through the Dark Hour, as anyone without the Potential or those pure of heart fall into a state of sleep called Transmogrification.  Those with the Potential will stay awake, however, and those with deep-seated insecurities or complexes may be drawn to the call of Shadows, leading them into an apathetic  & zombie-like state dubbed by medical examiners as Apathy Syndrome.  
  
 **SHADOW、**  
There are three types of Shadows said to exist.  One type is the formless creature who roams the Dark Hour without direction, a wandering soul led astray by the darkness in its heart.  The second type is one of twelve Shadows who represent the Tarot Arcana, conceived when the Kirijo Group experiments fused Shadows and human Potential together.  The third and most unusual type is the Shadow 1which emerges from a person who overcomes great emotional and physiological hardship...in other words, before their Persona is born, that Persona is essentially a young Shadow.  
  
 **TRANSMOGRIFICATION、**  
If a person does have the Potential or a Persona, they will fall into a chromatic sleep state called Transmogrification.  Their body will morph into a coffin which keeps them safe from the Shadows until the Dark Hour ends.  Anyone who becomes Transmogrified will have no recollection of the events leading up to the Dark Hour nor the time spent in/as a coffin.  
  
 **APATHY SYNDROME、**  
Anyone who falls prey to the Shadows or the Dark Hour and survives the ordeal will most likely be afflicted with Apathy Syndrome.  The best practitioners in the field have yet to narrow down effective treatment or a cure for the unusual condition, let alone come to understand its cause.  Symptoms include (but are not limited to): a feeling of detachment and isolation from others, sudden mood swings, insomnia, nausea, and an aversion from strong scents/sounds  & bright lights.  
  
 **ARCANA、**  
As dictated by the Tarot card deck, there are 22 main Arcana and 4 minor Arcana ('suits' that are more reminiscent of playing cards than reflections of one's inner soul) to make a grand total of 26 Arcana which rule over the human heart.  Personas and Shadows are designated by their Arcana, which often affects their magical affiliation/inclination as well.

 **SEES、**  
An acronym which stands for **S** hadow **E** xtracurricular **E** xtermination **S** quad.  It's listed under Gekkoukan High School's club roster as a "special interest" club, but only its founding members - Hyuuga Junpei, Aida Riko, and Kiyoshi Teppei - know the true purpose for its conception a year ago: to explore Tartarus and unviel the mystery behind its true purpose. 

 **TARTARUS、**  
Named after the mythological dungeon of an abyss where souls, judged after death, are sent to receive their due punishment, Tartarus towers over Port Island once the Dark Hour arrives.  It takes the place of Gekkoukan High, appearing out of the unearthly mist to stand like a skyscraper over the City.  With over 250 floors that change on a regular basis and Shadows trawling the premises like a second home, it's no surprise that the original members of SEES were only able to explore from the lobby to the first few floors before they recruiting more members to help explore the rest of the floors.  It first appeared a year before the story began - shortly after the Kirijo Group lab explosion incident and following the first whispers of hearsay among the Underground about the Generation of Miracles - but it seems that only the selected quintet of urban legend (and two others) know how Tartarus came to be.

 **GENERATION OF MIRACLES、**  
Conflicting stories and accounts on what (and who) the Generation of Miracles actually _are_ exist. Some say they were less than human to begin with before the Kirijo Lab Explosion incident changed everything; others stake claim to their sordid pasts and government connections.  But all of the rumors and variable accounts agree upon several points.  First, the Generation of Miracles are products of extensive human and Shadow genetic alteration in six orphaned teenagers who were granted extraordinary abilities that mere mortals could only dream of.  Second, while very few know the location of the lost "leader" of the Generation of Miracles, rumors all seem to point that he still remains on Tatsumi Port Island and watches over the other members even now.  Third and lastly, the sixth original member of the Generation of Miracles supposedly was such a success case with the scientists on the Kirijo Group’s experimentation team that some claimed his blood now ran so thick with Shadow energy, he had become part Shadow himself.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: In some cases, a Shadow which emerges from an individual and becomes a Persona may also revert back into a Shadow if a) the individual who accepts their Shadow as a Persona undergoes a second self-actualization process, b) undergo significant mental trauma which causes them to revert to negative emotions, self-defense mechanisms, and/or return to the emotional/physiological state of their former Persona-harnessing self, or c) never properly came to terms with their Shadow self and, therefore, fuses an incomplete Persona vulnerable to Shadow reversion.


	2. 「 remember that you are mortal。 」

An Evoker’s muffled shot rang out in the stillness of the Dark Hour.

Of course, no one else awake heard it.  After all, does a fallen tree in the middle of an empty forest make a noise?  No, this sound was audible to no one awake aside from the Shadows who roamed the streets and the sleepless children who fought to terminate them.

SEES was still a ragtag group and Aida Riko knew it. 

She knew their limitations, knew that their crusade for justice could only take them so far.  She also knew they were being stretched thinner and thinner with these midnight excursions, knew that for every Shadow they destroyed, new ones emerged just as quickly.

The freshmen clamored for a break every other night, questioned Teppei’s will.  Hyuuga was the first to bite his tongue, the first to place a hand on Aida’s shoulder and hold her back. 

It surprised her as well, the bile that rose in her throat with the need to retort, to defend.  After everything Teppei had done for them…

But Hyuuga was right.  So long as more people fell prey to Apathy Syndrome (more this month than the last, more last month than the one before, too; the numbers never rose rapidly but instead crept ever higher, slowly but surely, with no explanation to be found), she knows full well there would be more victims than lives saved. 

And these boys were young – too young, Aida realized, looking at their shining eyes and their ruddy faces and the **fear** flickering behind their pupils each and every time they put the Evoker to their heads.  These boys, Aida knew, weren’t ready to be half the man Teppei was back then. 

Perhaps they never would be.

But Teppei was _gone_ _,_ Aida forced herself to remember.  He was a ghost, a phantom who disappeared to Inaba months ago to do something for the greater good, most likely never to return. 

Aida still hoped, blindly and perhaps foolishly hoped, that things will be different when he does.

 _But then again_ , Hyuuga pointed out once they’ve all retired to the dorm for the night, with weary bones and heavy hearts and shattered nerves that even the best of Aida’s massages can’t fix, _Kagami and Kuroko are with us now_.

Ah, yes. 

Aida felt a wan smile when she thought of the two freshmen who just joined their ranks, shutting her eyes at the warm pressure of Hyuuga’s palms against her shoulder blades. 

Those two. 

They were quite a pair, no doubt about it.  Kagami, who appeared to them earlier than Kuroko, flew in like a maelstrom heralded by the arrival of a violent beast.  Kagami, who never shut his eyes when he pulled the trigger to his Evoker and smiled while he summoned his Persona for the first time.  Kagami, who was as brash as Hyuuga at his worst and as recklessly brave as Teppei at his best.

And then there was Kuroko.

Aida still wasn’t sure what to make of him.  The boy might very well be part Shadow as he claimed; he certainly knew enough about the creatures, enough to help SEES slowly unravel the mystery behind their true nature.  But it wasn’t his innate understanding of the Dark Hour or his quiet presence (or, really, his lack thereof) that was unsettling to the older girl.

It was his power.

His power – unlike the other freshman boys, unlike even _Kagami_ , who arguably had the strongest Potential of them all – was unlike anything Aida had ever seen.  Not even Teppei was capable of such inner strength. 

But Kuroko’s Potential, though visibly the smallest of flames and hardly worth mentioning to Aida’s initial judgment, was not in his Persona’s magical aptitude or, as in Kagami’s case, the ease with which he could wield his Persona.

Kuroko’s power only seemed to grow, as dawn’s break after a long night, as Kagami’s Potential burned brighter.

Aida knew the two of them sometimes trained alone in Tartarus. 

Though she told them countless times how dangerous exploring the tower alone was, she too understood its relevance to them – understood and respected Kuroko’s deeper connection with it, too, while reading between the lines of his soliloquies on the past.  But she wondered just how much good the Generation of Miracles could have done if they were still a cohesive group today. 

What was important was the here and now, though, and Kuroko surely knew it too. 

That was why the two of them worked hard to clear Tartarus’s floors of Shadows.  At the rate they moved higher and higher, so the unlikely duo’s bond with one another grew in turn as they trained to better synchronize their battle styles with one another.

Aida knew it wasn’t her responsibility to guide them – at least, not in this endeavor. 

She could support them only as far as their path continued out into the open, but already she could see where her role in their development as Persona users would end.  It would inevitably be Kuroko who would play the biggest role in unlocking the Potential of his human and his Shadow side – as would the growth in Kagami’s Potential.

Soon, Aida knew, settling back into Hyuuga’s waiting arms, the balance in their fight against the Dark Hour would shift in their favor. 

(But as for how soon was anybody’s guess.)


	3. 「 he who has a why to live can bear almost any how。 」

Kuroko remembered.

He remembered the place where he was born, a quiet seaside town filled with people and colors and sounds and _light_ , as though a halo surrounded each and very living thing he could reach out to.

He remembered the place where he was ‘born,’ too, with its cool tiled floors and bleak fluorescent panels and surgical steel tools and needles and _fear_ permeating the premises, a stark contrast from his dreamlike existence before the experiments three years ago changed him.

No.  Not just him.  It was selfish and downright foolish to think he was only one who was affected.

Kise-kun, he remembered, with his bright smiles and his effervescent philosophies, his boisterous laughter and his childlike complaints and a love for people of all kinds, as well as a love for _him_ that was almost suffocating, tightly binding him to the ghost of a memory.

Midorima-kun, he remembered, with his unspoken guidance and his traditional euphemisms, his veiled respect and his thirst for knowledge and a love for astrology, a passion for _understanding_ that rivaled even Akashi’s and helped them escape from that prisonlike place.

Aomine-kun, Kuroko remembered, with his limitless fervor and his equally boundless _Potential_ , his hobbies and his hopes and hands that were as large as his once-brilliant dream for a future without the Dark Hour and the powers that held them down like once-free phoenixes nailed to a post.

Momoi-san, Kuroko remembered, who was as much their tower as she was their _fighter_ , full to the brim with energy and ideas as well as the willingness and the connections to set their plans into motion, even when she couldn’t agree wholeheartedly with their raison d’être.

Murasakibara-kun, Kuroko remembered, with his eccentricities and his quiet admiration, his love for sweets and his odd attachment to animals and his desperate need for _acknowledgement_ , a side of him that was as rare to see as it was quite telling of the deficits present in all of their lives even now.

Akashi-kun, Kuroko remembered, their leader and their last hope, the core of their small and ‘privileged’ group and the most steadfast believer in the silly little promises made back then and who was probably _still_ out there now looking for all of them.

Kuroko remembered them – never wanted to forget, couldn’t bear the thought of forgetting them – not only for who they were but in hopes that he can reciprocate in some way, someday, when they crossed paths again.


	4. 「 what does not kill me makes me stronger。 」

Kagami didn’t really need a place to live.

He lived on his own, had been doing so for months now.  His parents traveled constantly and finally, _finally_ , they found a place to settle down for good this time.

Or so they thought.

For Kagami, who was just starting to like Tatsumi Port Island and just transferred to Gekkoukan High, the most logical solution was to stay in the dorms.

That was when Aida came to him with a proposition.

Aida Riko – who came sweeping into his class with an idea, who was a rumored yakuza princess, a rumored lesbian man-hater, his senpai by a year but at least two heads shorter than him (then again, there weren’t many people taller than him, let alone anyone who matched his height) – came to him with the promise of a job in exchange for helping her out.

And Kagami hated to say ‘no’ to someone in need.

So he moved into the dorms, took a room for himself.  

The freshmen were nothing if not respectful to him (but that probably had a lot to do with how scrawny they were) while Aida kept him busy running errands (which he didn’t have a particular problem with but made a great show of complaining at first, just to test the waters and see what he could get away with) while he spent the evenings chatting with Hyuuga-senpai in the lounge (who was a really good guy but scary as hell when he got mad).

Looking back now, he should have asked more questions – like why no one allowed out after midnight.

Or why Aida needed someone to personally deliver things to and from Gekkoukan’s Chairman’s office in the next building over – documents, office files, books, the occasional boxed lunch and candy boxes – if her legs were certainly strong enough to kick Kagami off his feet.

Or why no one who “trained” with Hyuuga-senpai and Aida was willing to talk about what kind of training they underwent on weeknights – and sometimes weekends.

And then, one night, he understood everything.

 

* * *

 

When he walked out at midnight from the local convenience store for a last-minute food run and walked out to see _coffins_ everywhere there were people before, Kagami understood.

When he walked – no, _ran_ home – through those green-lit streets under the cover of a full moon, stepping in nebulous gray puddles surrounded by an opaque red gleam, the eerie silence ringing alongside his rapidly thrumming pulse, Kagami understood.

What he felt ever since he moved to Tatsumi Port Island, that unsettled and unnerved feeling sending chills up his spine every night he wasn’t asleep before midnight, the feeling that someone was _watching_ him – he understood everything then.

Kagami finally understood that night that he wasn’t crazy, he hadn’t been chosen to live in the dorms by accident, and Aida (his senpai, the sister he never had, a strange and sometimes violent but well-intentioned girl) helped him in ways perhaps even she couldn’t have predicted.

 

* * *

 

Just as he was about to turn the final corner to head toward the front of the dorm, Kagami saw someone else who hadn’t been put to sleep in this strange in-between time.

And he wasn’t alone.

Silhouettes surrounded him, shadow-like creatures that undulated like formless invertebrate and flashed their claws and growled at the unassuming blue-haired boy who stood in the center of it all armed with nothing but a worn broomstick and eyes like a raging ocean.

An errant heartbeat, a shallow inhale, and his shopping bag hit the pavement with an audible thump.

Distracted by the noise, one of the shadows turned to Kagami and then **lunged** , so quickly that he barely had time to cry out before the monster was on top of him.

The boy was small of build, smaller than Kagami expected seeing him from afar.  But he was at Kagami’s side in a flash, sending the little beast flying as if it were a baseball rather than a (possibly) living thing.

This kid…he knew what he was doing.  He knew how to handle the little bastards.

“Get back, please,” the boy’s voice was strangely calm – and _young_ , Kagami realized, barely past the point of puberty to his ears – as he gently pushed what looked like a gun into Kagami’s trembling hands.  “And take this, just in case.”

His first instinct was to ask what a teenager like him was doing with a gun of all things – but the question died in his throat as the boy wordlessly swung his broom at the next shadow shuffle-stampeding right for them.  That one went flying too, slamming straight into a nearby lamppost.

“Do I shoot them,” Kagami managed to gasp out, regaining his composure enough to be able to ask the inevitable question, “if they come at us again?”

“Actually,” the boy spoke in measured tones and there was the ghost of a smile on his pale face, “I want you to put that to your head and shoot yourself.”

“WHAT?!”  In any other situation, Kagami would’ve bolted right there.  But with all the crazy shit that he had seen tonight, he at least wanted an explanation for such a remark.  “W-What the hell’ll that do, though?”

“I know you probably won’t believe me,” replied the obviously winded boy, who was knocking away reemerging shadows (these things just kept coming, Kagami thought with a sudden surge of fear, and they seemed to be multiplying in spite of the boy’s efforts) as they headed for the front of the dorm.  “But if you shoot yourself in the head with that Evoker, you’ll be able to get rid of these Shadows.”  A part of Kagami still wasn’t convinced, but his fingers gripped the handle of the gun – the Evoker? He wasn’t sure whether to call it a gun at this point, with a name like that – and he felt its weight all the more.  “You won’t feel anything, I promise.  It doesn’t use bullets, either.”

“T-Then what the hell is this Evoker thing supposed to—?!”

A shriek shattered the brevity of their banter at once.

Kagami whirled around and saw the mass of shadows coming together, masked face contorting into a darker color and a more fiendish look.

It was…morphing?  But along with its change in physical appearance, Kagami could sense a change in the air quality, its aura sending a frigid breeze about as its ‘body’ fused together with the other smaller shadows.

The boy slowly straightened up, taking note of the resolution present in Kagami’s eyes.

“Hey,” Kagami let out a wild laugh, crimson locks aflutter in the abrupt winds.  “If we survive this, I wanna know the name of the guy who saved me.”

“I’m Kuroko…Kuroko Tetsuya.”

It was a strange but slight smile, Kagami realized as Kuroko strode forward to stand beside him, present on the smaller male’s face that didn’t look as awkward as Kagami imagined it would be.  His countenance was delicate, almost fragile in the now waning moonlight, but Kuroko seemed **stronger** , looked stronger than ever in that moment, than he had even while beating down enemies on his own.

“Ah, but just in case we don’t make it out of this alive,” Kuroko added, seemingly unfazed by the monster letting out an impatient roar as it stomped its feet in front of them, demanding to be noticed, “I also want to know the name of the person who was brave enough to stand by me until the very end.”

“It’s Kagami Taiga.”  As Kagami lifted the barrel of the Evoker to his temple – felt the cool steel alloy against his boiling blood and stared that giant Shadow creep in the eye and grinned, the insanity of this situation at last settling into his bones – he decided right then and there that he never felt so _alive_ before this moment.  “You’d better not forget it, not even after we’re six feet under!”

“Yessir,” was Kuroko’s light chuckle as he stood a little taller in the shade of Kagami’s shadow and gripped his makeshift weapon a little tighter.  “I’ll make sure I won’t forget.”

 

Three…

two…

one…

 

_b a n g_.

**_  
_ **


	5. 「 man believes what he wants to believe in the way he wants。 」

If you asked Kagami what he saw the moment he pulled that trigger, his one word reply would have been “nothing.”

But “nothing,” in truth, was filled with more downright powerful images than he would ever care to admit.

(In the ten seconds before his world blurred to white, Kagami saw three things flash before his very eyes:

the silver-red-gold tail of a _beast_ wearing armor and standing on two feet, standing before him and towering above the colossal Shadow, now engulfed by a relentless fire that reflected the heady thrum of his own slowing pulse,

the sudden memory of the children’s shelter back in America and the creaky old fence with peeling red paint and the shaking metal fences covering the old basketball courts that he used to have hundreds of matches and rematches with Tatsuya-nii behind,

and Kuroko’s retreating back as he ran in front of him and moved waves upon waves of water until it created a spiral around them – sent the whirlwind of unadulterated energy headlong into the Shadow and blasted it up, up, up into the sky, hurling it straight toward a faraway tower that his fuzzy vision almost didn’t catch in time before he blacked out.)

 

* * *

 

Aida’s face was three inches from his nose when Kagami woke up.

“ _You_.”  Aida was nothing if not gracious, glaring at him before grabbing hold of his ear and yanking so hard Kagami was **sure** he’d end up without an ear before long.  “You’re finally awake, I see.  Do you know you’ve been out like a light _for an entire week_?”

“I’m not even sure,” wheezed a still-disoriented Kagami, mouth caught between another yowl and an outright pout, “if I’m glad to be alive or not.”

“Do you have any idea,” Aida screeched, throwing her arms around Kagami and pulled by his hospital robe to sit upright with a vehemence that made even Hyuuga wince ( _what a great senpai_ , Kagami took note with a roll of his eyes, sitting in an armchair behind Aida and looking quite comfortable there), “how worried we were?!  You didn’t wake up, the doctors didn’t know what was wrong with you— you fought a Class B Shadow – Class B! – all by yourself!” 

“Honestly,” Hyuuga chose to spoke up then, “I’m surprised you knew what to do with that Evoker.  Though more importantly—”

“You…you…..Kagami, you idiot…!” 

Kagami shielded his face in an attempt to protect himself from the impending onslaught of Aida’s punches.  But much to his surprise, he felt her slump against his chest instead, a muffled sniffle the only explanation he needed to make him drop the arm that wasn’t wrapped in a plaster cast and wrap it awkwardly around the older girl. 

“Riko…it’s okay.”  Hyuuga stood and began to walk over to them.  “Everything’s fine now.  Kagami just needed his rest and he’s awake now.  It was just like Kuroko said.”

A strangled sob, followed by a shove that was so strong, Kagami toppled back onto the pillows of his hospital cot fast enough to knock the wind out of him. 

“ _You_ ,” Aida Riko, the great Aida Riko, **sobbed** at his hospital bracelet and let herself be none-too-gently pulled away by Hyuuga, “had better get your rest and get your butt back to the dorm ASAP.  You got that?”  But before she disappeared behind the doorframe completely, she added:  “And don’t go dying on me before we talk about your ‘promotion,’ Kagami Taiga!”

The silence that followed was thoughtful.

“Aida-san is a nice person, but…she should really be a bit quieter.  She was disturbing the other patients in the ward.”

He nearly jumped out of his own skin.

“GYAHH— you—!” 

Kagami shifted to his right in an instant to find none other than Kuroko with his lower body leaning forward in his chair lifting his head from the mattress, wild blue mane mussed and bright eyes alight with amusement.  Wait.  Lifted his head?

Kuroko was there with him _the entire time_?

“I fell asleep,” Kuroko explained.  As if that were the answer to world hunger and pushing in the city subway system at rush hour.  “You were out for almost a week, but I didn’t leave, just in case you woke up and no one knew about it.”

 _Oh_ , Kagami realized while his face did a great impression of an iron surface blotted rust, _he was worried about me_.  It was as flattering as it was bewildering.

“…Thanks.”  The admission was as heavy on his tongue, awkward upward turn of his lips as foreign as a new English word.  “Hey.  What you did back there was—”

“I didn’t do anything special.”  There it was again - the ghost of a smile on an already pallid face.  It was an odd contrast; this kid was a strange one, alright.  “You had the Potential all along, Kagami-kun.  I just happened to be there.”

“Are you a part of SEES?”  Kagami moved over a bit more to offer more space to Kuroko, but the smaller male shook his head, content to stand. 

“I wasn’t,” quipped Kuroko, “until just yesterday.  I’ll officially be a first year at Gekkoukan starting tomorrow morning.”  Then, with a smile that couldn’t be described as anything if not pleased: “We’ll be classmates.”

The noise that came from Kagami’s throat was some mangled crossbreed of a parrot and a lion being stepped on. 

“I’m sorry.”  A genuine frown made its way across Kuroko’s visage.  “Am I moving too fast?” 

Talking was exhausting, thinking was exhausting – the pace at which everything, including the changes in his life, were _exhausting_.  Kagami fell back onto his pillows, which suddenly seemed a lot more cushioned and warmer than he remembered them being.

“If you need more time to rest and process everything that’s happened, I don’t blame you.”  He didn’t expect Kuroko to reach over to turn off the lights for him (though he could have just as easily turned them off himself), “I understand.  I’ll be outside waiting for you to—”

Kagami’s hand closed around a jacket sleeve, tugging him back toward the bed.  Behind eyes fluttering shut, Kuroko’s expression went from quizzical to chiding.

“Aida-san said it best.  You need to rest, Kagami-kun.  Using one’s Persona for the first time can tire anyone out, no matter how strong physically they may be.”

“S’not like I’m a little kid…can take care of m’self, but—” 

Kagami’s head was whirling with at least ten different thoughts, five different questions, and at least two incoherent speeches; all of them struggled to traverse the channel from mind to trachea, but his attempts at speech were already slurred enough with the pain medication working in. 

“Kuroko, one last thing…did you…”  In a moment’s clarity, he felt a revelation creeping up.  “Were you the one watching me…all this time…?”

Kuroko’s soft peal of laughter was warm and there were small, rounded fingers curling around his, entwining their hands close as a faint twinkle went off like fireworks at Kuroko’s back – casting two outlines that looked like _wings_ in Kagami’s fading sight.

“Get some rest.”  The cool touch over his line of his sight swallowed everything, blanketing it with blissful dark.  “And don’t think too much.  We’ll have plenty of time to talk at lunchtime tomorrow."

"Good night, Kagami-kun.  Sleep well."

 

* * *

 

Once the hospital door was slid closed behind him, Kuroko sighed and turned to the two older students waiting in the hall.

“So then,” Hyuuga unfolded his legs, waiting until Aida stirred and at last lifted her head from his shoulder.  “Let’s get back to what we were talking about earlier…about someone following Kagami?”

Kuroko declined Aida’s offer to take her seat, arms crossed and usual stoic countenance anxious. 

“If I told you that I was keeping watch of the Shadows following you the entire week prior to the incident,” he waited a moment to gauge their reactions before continuing, “would that surprise you?”

“I thought I sensed someone else’s presence during our training sessions.”  Brown orbs darted left and right as Aida began to bite her thumb down to the quick.  “But I couldn’t be completely sure; there were too many auras to pin down.”

“An effect of the full moon approaching, no doubt.”  Hyuuga grimaced, sending Kuroko a sympathetic look.  “I have to honestly say, though…you’ve been a great help.  We haven’t had a lead this big since – well.  It’s been awhile, let’s just say that.”

“I’m glad to be of help, senpai.”  Kuroko nodded at Aida and Hyuuga in turn.  “Believe it or not, SEES has quite a growing reputation among the Persona-user circle as a force to be reckoned with.  I figured that if there was anyone who could tell me a bit more about this…unusual phenomenon, it would be SEES’s Dynamic Duo.”

Aida gave a hearty laugh, waving away the obvious praise.  “A-Ahhhhh, you didn’t need to put it like that, Kuroko-kun!”

“I assume you mean the…condition that local news is calling ‘Apathy Syndrome,’” Hyuuga’s expression darkened. 

“There are some people out there who want to capitalize on it, too.”  _Cutting right to the case_ , Hyuuga thought grimly.  Aida watched as Kuroko pulled a manila folder out of his bag, handing it off to them.  “There are several Underground organizations claiming they have cures…but the medication they’re giving out has a number of side effects.”  A smolder of quiet fury swelled and sank behind Kuroko’s bright eyes.  “Someone I knew thought to try it, thinking it would relieve the symptoms of the suppressants he was already taking.”

“Suppressants…”  Aida’s mouth was in motion before Hyuuga could stop her train of thought.  “Wait!  You mean the kind that keeps your Persona under control?”

“Those are dangerous pills to begin with,” Hyuuga pointed out – though judging from the desolate look on Kuroko’s face, he didn’t need to remind him.  “Dare I ask how your friend reacted to the drugs?”

Kuroko said nothing.  Hyuuga swallowed, the brevity of their discussion weighing more heavily than the photographs of mangled corpses and skin track-covered arms in his lap. 

“—Alright, Kuroko.  Here’s the deal: whatever headway we can make in finding out more about this sick operation going on in the Underworld, we’ll let you know first.”

“But,” Aida followed up on his proposal, razor-sharp stare boring into the boy who met her gaze without turning away.  She smirked, taking in his genuine entreaty and deciding that he was safe to trust.  “In exchange, Hyuuga-kun and I need you to lend us your Potential.  SEES could always use more Persona users to add to our ranks.  And besides, Kuroko-kun…your Potential hasn’t matured yet, but I think I can work some magic on you with a little more training.”

“Thank you,” Kuroko said – and the vigorous shake he gave both their hands told them he meant it.  “Thank you very much, both of you.  For everything.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t thank them just yet.”

Aida shrieked, Hyuuga scrambled to his feet and assumed a fighting stance, and Kuroko’s eyes widened with a surprise neither of the seniors had ever seen the likes of present on the younger boy’s face. 

Their new arrival came down the shadowed corridor toward them, polished shoes and pressed suit almost as inconspicuous as his designer sunglasses.  Gold-brown eyes and flaxen hair framing a boyishly handsome face.

A name came to the tip of Hyuuga’s tongue to no avail; someone who was gaining quite a reputation in the modeling world.  Who was it again—? 

“Kise-kun.”  Aida balked at the very mention of the name that Kuroko spoke with a touch of…familiarity?  Hyuuga outright blanched, suddenly remembering how he had heard of this person in the first place.  “It’s been a long time.”

 

_First Kagami, then Kuroko…_

_And now a member of the famous Generation of Miracles?_

_Maybe the apocalypse really is on its_ way _._


	6. 「 living is not breathing, but doing。 」

The "Generation of Miracles." 

Hyuuga had only heard rumors and stories about them, fragments of accounts containing half-truths and obvious lies.  Some said they were less than human to begin with; others brought sordid pasts and government connections into the picture. 

From what he could surmise on his own, at least this much was true: five teenaged orphans were picked up from the streets and given a place to live in exchange for being human guinea pigs for a very different kind of research. 

They were the products of extensive human and Shadow genetic alteration – and granted extraordinary abilities that mere mortals could only dream of.  

One who could persuade any living thing into doing their bidding through suggestion. 

One who could harness the elements in the air and wield their power as his own.  

One who could make use of the sun’s energy and harness herculean-like strength.  

One who could contort his body and face into just about any form at will.  

One who could change the flow of life itself – or even grant death – like a living Messiah.    

But there was yet another rumor surrounding the Generation of Miracles.  Stories also told of not one but _two_ other teens that were considered members of this ragtag but formidable group, two teens who shared the other five’s living quarters and knew more about the Kirijo Group lab explosion incident than anyone else on Tatsumi Port Island. 

One was the adopted granddaughter of the former head of the Kirijo Group, Momoi Satsuki.  And the other was another orphaned boy who was such a success in the Kirijo Group’s experimentation that some claimed his blood ran so thick with Shadow energy that he had become part Shadow himself. 

Aida told Hyuuga her theory after a week observing him as he trained alongside the other SEES members: Kuroko _was_ the Shadow of the Generation of Miracles of urban lore.  Hyuuga had his reservations on the matter, thinking it was just another one of Aida’s crazy schemes.  

But now, seeing Kuroko stand in front of Kise Ryouta and address him so casually, he began to see how strong Aida’s intuition really was.

"Kise-kun.  It’s been a long time," Kuroko spoke, slight inclination of his head a polite greeting that belied the subtle familiarity in his tone.  "You've grown a few centimeters since we last saw each other."  
  
Three seconds of tense silence passed after these words were spoken.  
  
But then, Hyuuga could barely register what the brown-gold-blue blur rushing part him was before Kise was at Kuroko's side, _clinging_ to the shorter male like an overly affectionate pet that found its new favorite cuddle toy.  
  
"Kurokocchi~" Kise crooned, rubbing his cheek against Kuroko's face while he held onto the slightly discomfited blue-haired boy.  "I missed you so much...it’s been a year, you know!  A whole **year**!"  
  
"Actually," Kuroko quipped, his attempt to pry Kise's arms off a vain effort at best, "it's been a bit more than that if you count the last weeks of March."  
  
"Okay...one year and counting, then," huffed Kise, mock-indignation as free-spirited as the rest of his demeanor. "But that's still way too long!"  Aida looked more than a bit disgruntled as Kise turned to her – and Hyuuga, who had long backed away from the reunited pair after sensing no immediate danger – and pouted.  "If I didn’t find you here tonight, Kurokocchi, I’d probably go home and cry myself to sleep!” 

Kuroko stopped trying to wrench free from Kise’s vice-grip, the barest trace of a frown starting on the ends of his lips.  

“You say you were looking for me, but you knew where to find me.”  It was the furthest thing from a question.  

Kise let go of Kuroko then, no longer like a dejected puppy and much more like a self-satisfied cat now that Kuroko caught the implication behind his words. 

“I’d been watching you, that’s why.”  

Lifting one hand to motion from the stunned Aida (from the look on her face, Hyuuga knew she was questioning how Kise managed to hide his aura from her) to the stern Hyuuga, Kise flashed his waiting audience a toothy grin. 

“You sure look surprised, though!  But don’t be – word about SEES’s unique training menu’s been circulating for a while now.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you too, Kise Ryouta.”  Hyuuga glanced at the gleaming green numbers on the digital clock hanging over the ICU’s ward map – 11:58.  No wonder the hallways were so quiet, he mused, reaching for the Evoker sitting in its holster against his backside.  “A member of the Generation of Miracles whose hypnotic suggestion and persuasion is second to none…I’ve heard a long list of accomplishments from our friendly neighborhood Underground rumor mongrels.”

“Ahh, the list can’t be that long,” Kise chirped, having the grace to at least appear sheepish.  

“If anything,” the blond lifted his arm to point to the florescent panels on the ceiling and, instantly, the lights dimmed just enough to make Kuroko and the two seniors flinch, “it should only get longer once I do what I came here to do.” 

And with a snap of his fingers – at precisely midnight – the entire hospital fell into complete darkness.

 

* * *

 

The equilibrium shift was always the hardest thing for Kuroko to get used to during the Dark Hour. 

Even after a year of living with the Dark Hour, living through the darkest of hours (lying in a cell for almost a month after trying to escape that place once; it was a wonder he tried it again, after the ‘punishment’ he and the others received) and pushing past so many of his personal demons, the change still shook him to the core.  

But what really troubled him was that he couldn’t sense Hyuuga-san or Aida-san anymore.

The sudden darkness left everyone disoriented and, apparently, separated as well. 

Kise was nowhere to be found, though Kuroko didn’t worry about him and more about his seniors.   It was a shock to see him after so long, but Kise was the culprit of these dire circumstances. 

He knew Kise wouldn’t be Transmogrified, either. 

Just as his vision began to adjust to the faint blur of moonlight streaming in from the overhead windows, Kuroko started as he felt someone sidle up to him from behind. 

“Where’s Kise?”  The slight rattle of a rolling IV stand and the gruff cadence thick with drowsiness made it clear who had found him.  

“Hopefully,” Kuroko turned to Kagami, whose eyes spoke volumes for how much of the earlier conversation he heard, “he’s still inside this ward.” 

Kagami nodded before moving slow but steady in front of Kuroko.  “He couldn’t ‘ve gotten too far.  S’not like the guy can teleport, right?”  After saying this, though, the redhead visibly twitched.  “—Unless.  Y-You know.” 

“I don’t think Kise-kun has that ability,” Kuroko fought the urge to laugh, following behind Kagami as they moved down the darkened passage.  “But then again, he seems to have gotten stronger since we last met.”  Then, he added in a muted whisper, “And a bit clingier.” 

“So were you guys friends or what?”  Kagami let his voice carry through the narrow halls while they walked and climbed flight after flight of stairs, every slow footstep and syllable reverberating against the drywall surface.  “Sounded like he was awfully cozy with you before.” 

“We were close,” Kuroko replied, trying to ignore the slight twinge that came from having to use the past tense.  “But that was before a year ago, when everything changed.” 

A reflective pause followed, almost as if Kagami was choosing his words.  “‘Everything’ – as in, everyone?” 

The blue-haired teen inhaled, slowly, torn between praising and cursing Kagami’s uncanny perception.  He had heard from Aida-san that the taller boy had animal-like instincts, but he didn’t expect it in this conversation.  

“Everything and everyone changed,” Kuroko lowered his gaze, focusing on the indistinct outline of flooring tiles that turned a cloying shade of verdant gray in the Dark Hour’s light, “after the Kirijo Group incident a year ago.” 

Kuroko knew the freshman would remember it.  

The news coverage ran its course on national news for over a week before the initial fascination fizzled out and the government bribe money passed through the appropriate channels.  Anyone who was alive at the time would recall the whispers of businessmen and housewives alike – about the ‘bug’ that was going around and making townsfolk of all ages suffer from a lack of energy and slurred speech, about divine justice and who was the culprit behind the explosion that ended the lives of ten scientists, about high school students who went missing and ended up in remote locations with their hanging corpses so mangled that there was no evidence left for the police to investigate – and how **afraid** everyone at the time was about what it all meant.  

The apocalypse didn’t come, though.  At least, not in a form that any normal person could detect. 

“It’s hard to believe,” sighed Kagami, as if he were the one burdened by the guilt of so many lives lost, as though the very enunciation of it fatigued him, “you were involved in all that crazy stuff, though.” 

_All that crazy stuff_.  Kuroko bit down on his tongue hard, fighting back the surge of flickering fear at the corner of his stomach. 

“Kagami-kun.”  Kuroko stood still and Kagami outright turned on his heel at the abrupt lack of footfalls.  “If I told you it was my fault those people died in that explosion…would you still be able to trust me?” 

It was near impossible to see under the eerie glow of the Dark Hour, but Kuroko could imagine the images flickering behind vermillion hues. 

The same person who stood up to Shadows with nothing but an old broomstick.  The same person who summoned a tidal wave in the Minatodai Dormitory courtyard to extinguish the brushfires Kagami had started by summoning his Persona.  The same person with such a lack of presence that all of his dormmates overlooked or outright ignored him at least once in the time they had spent with him.  

The same person who, for reasons neither of them could explain, saved the life of a near-stranger and now felt so compelled to watch over him that he had rearranged his former life around Kagami’s current one.  

“Honestly,” Kagami sighed again and Kuroko could hear the enervation in his deep timbre, “I’m pretty sure you could tell me pigs could fly at this point and I’d trust you.  There’s probably a hell of a lot more to the story that you’re not telling me, but—”  Kagami’s outstretched fist made its way, hesitant, into his field of vision.  “—we’ve got more important things to do.  So tell me the rest of the story later…after we get Hyuuga-senpai and Aida out of here.” 

The fleeting apparition of something like mirth came to rest on Kuroko’s features as he reached out to press his fist against Kagami’s, giving it a little extra push to force the redhead to keep walking forward. 

“Okay.  Later, then, I promise to tell you the rest.”

 

* * *

 

When Aida at last stirred awake, it was to the girlish titter drifting from the other side of the hospital room’s partition. 

“Ki-chan, you only brought these two here?” Once Aida blinked enough times, her surroundings became that much clearer: a couple of Transmogrified hospital staff were in a corner by the door, she was tied to the cot she was lying in, and Hyuuga was tied to the cot beside her, unconscious.   “If you had him there, you should’ve brought Tetsu-kun, too!” 

_‘Tetsu-kun’…?_   The nickname didn’t register at first – but then Aida remembered the student information sheet she helped Kuroko fill out.  They weren’t talking about Kuroko, were they? 

“Momocchi, don’t get impatient!”  Aida definitely recognized Kise’s voice; the blond made no effort to quiet himself, either, the fuss they were making visible behind the curtain in part because the lights were on in this room.  “We needed to give Kurokocchi and Kagami a reason to come here!  That’s why I brought those two back with me.” 

“Okay, fine,” his lively confidant snorted in obvious disapproval, but she seemed to relent and stepped away from Kise’s shadow to move around the other side of the barrier.  “I’ll go call Dai-chan and see if he’s ready to turn the lights back on, then!  Let me know if the other two wake up—oooookay then…never mind…” 

She drifted off once she came around to find Aida sitting upright, ropes that were once tied to her wrists and ankles tossed aside, and an Evoker pressed to her temple.  It was only now that Aida could see the other girl in full view as well, long pink hair a stark contrast to her teal blue sweater and white uniform skirt.  But the other girl was also carrying an Evoker, safely tucked in a holster tied to her upper thigh. 

_Wait a second_.  

Aida struggled to recall how they had gotten here: a hand laid over her mouth parted in a silent scream, mephitic promises whispered in her ear by an unknown yet nostalgic voice.  But the only thing her muddled subconscious could remember clearest was the utter blackness that blanketed itself over them after Kise snapped his— 

Recalling then what Hyuuga had told her about Kise’s unmatched power of suggestion, Aida swallowed thickly as the other girl clapped her hands in pseudo-applause.    

“Well, well, **well**.”  The other girl hummed in approval, folding her arms over her ample bosom.  “I’m impressed.  You managed to undo those bindings rather quickly.  But I should have expected nothing less from SEES’s Empress.” 

“I think it’s only fair I know your name,” Aida glared, not bothering to hide her distaste for the long-haired lass’s extravagant praise, “since you seem to know more than enough about me.” 

“Fair enough,” conceded the taller girl before slinking over to the edge of Aida’s cot, knowing Aida had no intention of shooting herself before she could gather more information.  “I’ll tell you my name if you promise it’ll just be between little ol’ us.” 

A rush of cool air – and in an instant, Aida found herself lying face first on the mattress, the silver barrel of the other girl’s Evoker pressed to her cheek and her hands pinned behind her back by a surprisingly firm grip.  

That whimsical giggle chimed out again before a velveteen whisper against her jawline drained the color from her face. 

“The name’s Momoi Satsuki.”  One more giggle, followed by the click of a switchblade being opened.  “And tonight, my dear Aida-san, you’re about to find out the Dark Hour has a **lot** scarier things to look out for than the Shadows.”

                                                                                       


	7. 「 anima and animus。 」

Time settled into a slow crawl as the Dark Hour continued while Kagami and Kuroko trudged through the dim hospital corridors.  
  
For Kagami, the experience was a bit more than bizarre.   

This was only his second time experiencing the Dark Hour, after all.  He always slept through it up until the midnight snack run a week ago.  His entire body ached, temples throbbing with a migraine that urged the gray-washed walls to sway with every step.  
  
His worst flus, even how he felt right after using his Persona for the first time, had nothing on this.  
  
"Kagami-kun."  A hand settled itself on his lower back.  "You're swaying while you walk and I don't think the Dark Hour makes the ground move."  
  
"Is that what you call it?"  He was about to start walking again when Kuroko held onto his waist in an attempt to steady him.  "I-I'm not an invalid – I'm _fine!_  Let me walk by myself."  
  
"Not a chance," deadpanned the smaller boy, motioning to the IV pole in Kagami's trembling grip.  "I can tell when you're lying, Kagami-kun.  You're strong, but you and I both know you aren't invincible.  Let's at least walk like this until we find Hyuuga-san and Aida-san...then I'll let you go."  
  
A beat, then one arm slipped around Kuroko's waist as well.  
  
"This is only 'till we find Aida and Hyuuga-senpai," Kagami grumbled, grateful for the Dark Hour as it hid how flushed his face had become.  "And once my head stops feeling like it's about to split open, I'm letting you go too!"  
  
"Understood." If Kagami didn't already know how laconic the other boy was, he would've thought Kuroko was smiling.  "But until then, I'll be here."  
  
They continued on their silent way until they came to a fork branching off with three different paths.   

Kuroko sent the taller boy a questioning glance, wondering at first if it was just his imagination.  But Kagami pivoted slightly on his heel to point out a faint glow coming from the end of the hall on their left, exactly where Kuroko saw the same peculiar sight.  
  
"Are lights supposed to be on during the Dark Hour?" Kagami meant it as a joke, but Kuroko shook his head (the action evident against his shoulder, as the shorter teen insisted they keep conversation to a minimum in case Shadows were lurking about) and shuffled forward without another word.  
  
"Anything that runs on electricity shouldn't work," murmured Kuroko.  "But if the lights are on...then Kise-kun is probably in that room."  
  
 _Crash **clatter**_.   

The dual sounds echoed from somewhere down the way they were heading and Kagami flinched before they decided to keep walking.  As they drew closer, the growing illumination highlighted the contemplative look on the quiet boy's face.  
  
"Whaddya mean 'probably'?" Kagami inquired, adjusting his arm over the other boy's thin shoulders.  
  
"…No, I'm probably wrong." Kagami bit back his smart remark when Kuroko's eyes flickered with a deep-seated melancholy as he mumbled his unrelated musings aloud.  "It wouldn't be...no, most likely not.  But then again, Kise-kun always said he’d be willing to work with someone like Ao—"  
  
They both halted outright hearing the next sound.  
  
"Was that—?"  
  
"T-That was an Evoker—!"  
  
Kagami wrenched free from Kuroko's hold, yanking free from the IV drip as well, now realizing that it wasn’t his imagination he didn’t feel it after the lights went out.   

"Screw waiting around.  I'm pretty sure that's our cue.  Let's go, Kuroko!"  
  
Kagami watched as Kuroko pulled an Evoker from his belt holster and spun it around with such finesse that the taller boy couldn't help but stare.  
  
"For now, we'll have to share this."  Kagami nodded mutely, steadier on his feet than he had been all night.  "I'll pass it to you if we run into trouble, but be careful not to overdo it."  
  
Kagami couldn't help but laugh, following Kuroko close behind as they took the final steps to the end of the hall.  
  
"Says the guy," chuckled Kagami, "who practically put all of Port Island under water a week ago."

“That was because you nearly set the entire courtyard on fire, Kagami-kun.”

“T-That was an accident, okay!  I wasn’t even conscious of what I was doin— hey, h-hey, Kuroko!  Dammit, don’t disappear on me like that…not when it’s so damn _dark_ in here already…!”

 

* * *

 

  
The tables turned a total of three times during their fight.  
  
The first was when Aida sent Momoi flying off the bed with a well-aimed kick to her side, though the pink-haired teen landed in a crouching position.  _She’s fast_ , Aida found herself thinking as she pulled back to dodge Momoi’s punch in favor of a roundhouse kick, _but not fast enough_. 

The second was when Momoi caught her roundhouse kick shortly after her inward (premature) victory dance was cut short, an elbow shoved into her spine hard enough to propel Aida straight into the curtain and right past a bewildered and squawking Kise at the computer desk at the other end of the room. 

The third and final twist of fate technically counted as three surprises for all parties in the room: one, Aida conjured a dagger from her boot and had the blade at Momoi’s jugular before the girl could even scream; two, Kise managed to find a vaccine shot and had the needle at Aida’s jaw before either girls took another breath; and three, Hyuuga emerged seemingly from nowhere the moment before anyone could use their weapons for anything but nonverbal coercion and had both Kise and Momoi wide-eyed and tense when two nunchucks slammed forcibly into the exposed pressure points at their necks. 

“That’s what you get for pissing me off,” grunted Hyuuga, not waiting for the assailants to slump to the floor before smirking and offering a hand to the dazed Aida.  “Your cheap tricks brought us to the lion’s den, just as we planned it.  But consider it divine justice, dumbfucks, that I didn’t kill you here and now for what you did to Riko.” 

Snapping out of her reverie, Aida couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the other senior’s personality change, a sure sign he had long passed the point of tolerance.  

“You could’ve let me handle that one, you know.”  The short-haired teen declined Hyuuga’s offer to help her stand, rising to her feet of her own accord while dusting off the shoulders of her Gekkoukan blazer.  “The end result would’ve been the same, anyway.” 

“True,” conceded the considerably placated Hyuuga, though the bespectacled third-year still gave Kise another kick before he turned to leave with Aida in tow.  “You’ve got one doozy of a roundhouse kick, as I’ve found out the hard way.” 

“Just remember that,” groused Aida, shooting Hyuuga her most cautionary glance, “the next time you think about jumping in and playing hero, alright?” 

“Yes ma’am,” said the all too gleeful Hyuuga, wrenching the door open with a noticeable spring in his step.  “Heard you loud and clear.”

 

* * *

 

On the hospital rooftop, a dozing young man’s battery-powered walkie-talkie buzzed to life. 

“Dai-chan!”  A decidedly female voice whispered just audible enough to be heard.  “They just left a minute ago and should be about ready to rendezvous at the target zone.”  Shifting fabric followed this report, joined by a yelp that could only be her confidant crying out in pain from the earlier attack.  “Are you ready to send out Fenrir to give them their prize for making it this far?” 

Though the Dark Hour certainly had its name for a good reason, moonlight was impossible to cloak.  From a bird’s vantage point, the yawning adolescent knew, it would be easy to see him, leaning against the balcony with a sweatshirt as his pillow and partially unbuttoned white uniform shirt a stark contrast to his tanned skin.  

He wasn’t trying to hide, either, as there wasn’t a single person who could sense his aura from here – well, not yet, anyway. 

“I hear you, Satsuki,” was his indolent reply while he took yet another peek through Fenrir’s seeing glass to check on Satsuki and Kise (the former who was locking the door to their base of operations behind her and the latter who was stretching to rid himself of a crick in his neck).  “But you know Tetsu’s already onto us, right?  He has to know what’s up by now.” 

“Still, Aominecchi—” Satsuki harrumphed as she always did when her phone (or, in this case, walkie-talkie) was taken from her, Kise’s ever lively tenor ringing out in the brief silence.  “—are you sure you don’t want me to bring out Hermes and meet you in the lobby, though?  Having extra Persona-power isn’t the worst thing in the world…” 

“Are you kidding?”  Aomine slowly stood and let out a bark of laughter, waving off the towering wolf of a Persona with a nod and a wave of his free hand as he began to put his sweatshirt back on.  “With weaklings like those Gekkoukan seniors and that Taiga kid backing him up, you think I can’t take on Tetsu on my own?  Tch, and here I thought you knew me better than that.” 

“I know,” Kise spoke with a touch of despondence that Aomine didn’t miss – couldn’t possibly miss – but grit his teeth and chose to ignore it for the time being.  “But that whole spectacle before gave me a shock, honestly.  The Dynamic Duo was a lot quicker than Momocchi’s data told us, so we could be wrong about this Kagami character, too.” 

He watched as Fenrir slipped through windows and corridors, silent and transcendent, gliding all the way down to rest behind the front desk at Aomine’s orders (sent via a sharp flick of his wrist through a conjured messenger’s gale). 

“Satsuki saw what she saw…and she did a damn good job of it,” countered a suddenly cross Aomine.  “You’re slipping a bit in your reflexes, though, Kise.” 

“Now that’s just mean, Aominecchi~” Kise wailed over Momoi’s excited squeal over being complimented by the usually stoic Aomine.  “I don’t have eyes behind my head, you know…and that bipolar Hyuuga was a speed demon, besides!” 

“Excuses, excuses,” rejoined the smirking Aomine, who knew Kise had cheered up when a pitiful whine answered him.  “Anyway, I’m heading off now.  Satsuki, remember to keep a close eye on that bipolar glasses guy for me.  And Kise?  If I need any backup, you’ll hear from me.” 

“Roger that,” Kise was all too eager to comply, Momoi’s frantic typing enough to let Aomine know she heard his orders.  “Just— be careful, okay?  If you need anything, seriously, make sure to let us know, alright?” 

The ethereal gleam to Aomine’s cobalt eyes as he began to Synchronize his aura with Fenrir’s couldn’t be described as anything except otherworldly, the spectral shimmer around his summoned broadsword matching the icy hue of his intense gaze. 

“I will,” Aomine declared before tossing the makeshift communicator right over the balcony.  “And you’d better make sure you’re ready, because you _know_ how much I hate waiting.”


	8. 「 ressentiment。 」

When Kagami and Kuroko reached the end of the hallway, they came to three realizations at the end of that lit corridor.  
  
The first realization: Aida and Hyuuga were already waiting for them.  Granted, they looked as though they just ran a marathon – but otherwise, they were no worse for the wear.  After a few Dia spells (cast by Aida on herself as well as Kagami, whose legs had all but given out on him by now), everyone was refreshed and ready to discuss what transpired while they were apart. 

“So let me get this straight.  You two,” Aida motioned in the underclassmen’s direction after they exchanged stories, “couldn’t find us and you couldn’t find Kise, either?” 

“Pretty much,” Kagami shrugged, stretching the ache from his reinvigorated muscles. 

“And when Hyuuga-senpai and Aida-senpai checked the room where Kise-kun and Momoi-san were before,” Kuroko intoned, a dark look sent back to the area in question, “it was empty.” 

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Hyuuga groaned, rubbing at his left temple.  “Unless, of course, they had an escape plan from the start.”  

“Knowing Momoi-san, I’m sure they did.” 

“But where would they _go_?” Kagami mused, just as perplexed as Aida.  “Kise can’t teleport, Kuroko told me, so…” 

“It’s true that Kise-kun can’t teleport,” Kuroko piped up, three pairs of disconcerted eyes quick to turn on him, “but Momoi-san can.” 

A beat followed.  Then, an anguished howl from three opened mouths made the smallest boy recoil. 

“Y-You should’ve told us that earlier, then!”  Aida squawked, arms flapping not unlike the animal she resembled in tonal quality.  “She probably took Kise with her, too!” 

“You never asked about that,” was Kuroko’s blunt reply.  “And I had no idea Kise-kun would separate us, either.” 

“If I knew that beforehand,” Hyuuga grumbled after settling down a bit, “I would’ve taken her down first.” 

“Momoi-san isn’t easy to fight against,” Kuroko commented.  “On top of being a black belt, her observational skills and her ability to hack into almost any database make her a valuable ally.  Kise-kun was smart to team up with her.” 

Briefly, the two seniors looked ready to strangle their junior.  It wasn’t until ten seconds of tense silence passed that Kagami spoke up amidst the rising dissatisfaction as he took a seat in one of the plastic chairs laid out in a truncated row along the corridor walls. 

“Is there anything,” Kagami glanced at the ever-silent Kuroko, who took a seat beside him as well, “Kise and Momoi can’t do?” 

But Kuroko stood silent, gaze unmoving on a familiar creature peering out from the room where Kise and Momoi once were. 

“Fenrir,” the blue-haired youth spoke with a sharpness that made even Kagami stop and stare.  “Come out and sit with us.”  
  
When the enormous beast pushed the door open and crept soundlessly into the hallway to stand before them, Aida and Hyuuga clung to each other screaming while Kagami appeared ready to bolt any moment.  
  
Kuroko remained nonplussed, beckoning the wolf-panther hybrid closer.   

Much to the other SEES’s members surprise, Fenrir began _purring_ once it reached Kuroko, pressing its muzzle into the quiet male’s clavicle as Kuroko stroked the back of its ears, the familiar gesture easing the tension to Fenrir's lithe back.  
  
It was almost inconceivable, to see this colossal animal turned domesticated in a matter of moments – but Kagami (who, realizing it was not a fearsome canine but a docile wildcat instead, calmed at the sight) supposed this was further proof that the Dark Hour was indeed an unusual time.  
  
“It’s been a long time, I know.”  Aida squeaked when Fenrir sniffed at her and Hyuuga but unwound herself from the other senior’s arm once the strange creature turned back to the slightly amused Kuroko.  “I’m glad you still remember me after a year.”  
  
“Is that…a Persona?”  Hyuuga reached out a tentative hand to its thick indigo mane, drawing back when Fenrir grunted in displeasure and burrowed its nose into Kuroko’s chest.  “I’ve never seen one as big or as animal-like as this.”  
  
Kagami blinked and nudged Aida’s side with his elbow.  “Uhhhh, don’t kill me for asking, but…what’s a Persona?”  
  
“Ah, that’s right…”  Aida crossed her arms, looking less ready to murder and much more sympathetic.  “You went to the hospital straight after Kuroko rescued you from that Shadow—”  
  
“Hey, I saved **him** from that big-ass Shadow too, y’know—!”  
  
“—so I’m not surprised you asked.”  A wan smile flickered across the girl’s features.  “We never gave you a full explanation, after all.”  
  
The seniors of the group sat beside Kagami and Kuroko, settling back in their chairs before Hyuuga began the explanation.  
  
“I'll give you the quick version, then.”  Hyuuga pulled his Evoker out from his belt holster.  “Remember this?  It’s an Evoker, as I’m sure Kuroko already told you.  It’s used to unlock a Persona user’s Potential.”  
  
“Okay…I think I’ve got that down already.” Kagami digested those facts with a curt nod, though most likely it was due to direct experience.  “But what’s a Persona?”  
  
“I’m getting to that,” Hyuuga’s tenor was a touch exasperated at Kagami’s impatience, but he continued on nevertheless. “Here’s an example for you.”   

“Imagine some annoying bastard has you pissed.  Maybe he said your mom was fat.  Maybe he said you had toilet paper sticking to your shoes and tricked you into looking down before tripping you.  Whatever the case, he’s insulted you for long enough – so before you know it, in a matter of seconds, you’ve got the guy knocked out unconscious and lying on the ground.”  
  
“But, for example's sake, let's say you get called in by the principal and he asks what happened.  And you’ve got no idea what to _say_ , because you suddenly find you can't remember a thing about the fight.  Not a single memory, not even a reason for why you snapped in the first place."  
  
Hyuuga looked to Kagami once he finished his story, who sat with one hand tucked under his chin as he reflected on the anecdote.  
  
"So why do you think you couldn't remember what happened, even though you were the one that beat the guy up?"  
  
"It was my Persona taking over," the pensive Kagami slowly enunciated.  "I think."  
  
“Actually, I know that word from somewhere.  In English, your 'personality'..." Kagami's English was nearly accent-free, a testament to the time the redhead spent growing up in the States.  "It's when you describe yourself to other people.  So a Persona must be—"  
  
"—like another side of you," a new voice chimed, making everyone, including Fenrir, turn and look to the nearby stairwell: the source of the original sound.  "But a Persona's useless if you can't use it to your full Potential."  
  
Everyone felt the rush of chilled air as soon as the new arrival to the silent ward emerged from the corridor entryway – a dark-skinned teen as tall as Kagami and striking blue eyes – but only Kuroko's gaze lifted, standing to meet their visitor with a vigilant Fenrir close at his heels.  
  
"Aomine-kun."  Like when he addresses Kise, Kuroko's cadence grew lighter, almost nostalgic.  But there was a certain unspoken sentiment hanging between the two, something not unlike a flash of white lightening against a backdrop of a starless sky.  "I never thought we'd meet again like this."  
  
"Heh...you and me both."  Aomine rebuked in casual response; even the untrained listener could sense the dissonance to their pleasantries, however, as they made no effort to conceal it.  "I see you haven't changed a bit since we last saw each other, Tetsu."  
  
"At least one of us hasn't."  
  
At this remark, the others standing a few feet away recoiled.  Hyuuga sucked in a shallow breath while Aida sent Kuroko with a frantic what-are-you-doing-baiting-this-guy-are-you- _i_ _nsane_ glance.   

Kagami gazed at the conversing pair with an expression torn between wonderment and disgruntlement, surprised that Kuroko had so much to say to Aomine.  He always took the younger one to be the calm and quiet type, hardly the sort to engage in a verbal battle of wits.  
  
But Kuroko wasn't finished.  
  
"I had a feeling you were here from the moment Kise found us earlier.  Momoi-san, too, since she's always with you."  The vague fondness in his tone was unmistakable.  "But when Hyuuga-senpai told me Kise-kun and Momoi-san only held them in that room to offer threats...I knew your mark was all over this operation, then."  
  
"I bet you're about to ask," Aomine rubbed at the back of his neck, unfazed by the verbal blows, "why we didn't come for you first."  
  
At Kuroko's nod, Aomine waved Fenrir over.  The Persona immediately glided to its owner's side, wild eyes never leaving Kuroko.  
  
"It was a test."  Aomine smirked.  "I wanted to see for myself if SEES was as competent as hearsay made them out to be."  
  
Hyuuga and Aida came to stand at either of Kuroko's sides while Kagami stood close behind.  
  
"So did we pass?"  Kagami ruffled Kuroko's hair in a show of silent support, the action alone putting a slight smile on the smaller teen's face.  “Your competency test.  Did we pass it in the end?”  
  
Aomine frowned, but the fleeting look of disappointment soon gave way to a weighted tension and an answer of sorts.

"Ahh, I knew I forgot something before...you really haven't changed at all, Tetsu."  When he was done shaking his head, Aomine's wild grin had returned.  "Still as stubborn and un-cute as ever.”  

“Oh, and about whether or not they passed?  Nope, they don’t even deserve a passing score."  Aomine’s rejoinder was all too flippant, as if he were merely observing the weather.  “Satsuki and Kise got away and you guys were planning on licking your wounds and waiting out the rest of the Dark Hour…pathetic.”  

“Actually,” Kuroko lifted his lowered gaze and Kagami saw for the first time just how **angry** the turbulent storm in the other boy’s eyes could become, “I’ve been wondering about this since the lights went out.  

These are definitely Dark Hour conditions…but something’s not right.”  

Both the fact that we’ve been experiencing additionally fatigue and the fact that the room Kise-kun and Momoi-san were in had access to electricity – something didn’t add up.  I couldn’t figure out what it was until we got to talking. 

“Momoi-san set up a Barrier using that room as an access point, didn’t she?”

Aomine's silence was shared by the other stunned SEES members as they processed this new information.  

“So we’re stuck here in the Dark Hour,” Kagami sucked in the heady realization, able to guess what Kuroko meant from the context, “until we get Momoi to drop the Barrier?” 

“So it seems,” observed Aida with a cool glance in Aomine’s direction.  “But anyway, I have a question as well.”  

“If your intention was just to test us, then something else doesn’t make sense.  If Momoi’s observation skills are so top-notch, you wouldn’t have a need to confront us directly.”  

With Kagami giving a sage nod following these words, a firm grip on Kuroko’s shoulder, and Hyuuga close at her side, it was clear she had the support of her ‘boys’ in this.  

“So why the mind games?”  The telltale furrow to Aida’s brow made it clear she had no inkling of the reason herself.  “Why try to separate us?  Unless the real reason you came here wasn’t for SEES at all but for Ku—” 

That same chill in the air that heralded Aomine’s arrival made its grand reappearance. 

But this time, it came with such ferocious intensity that everyone shielded their eyes from the icy gust that emerged.  A chorus of shocked gasps came from the huddled teens as an unconscious backward step in unison followed. Kagami could barely open an eye to peer over his arms blocking the strange and sudden hailstorm.  

But when he did, the only thing he could process was how Fenrir’s and Aomine’s eyes were nearly identical shades of luminous blue.        

“I was testing you,” Aomine said in an unnervingly calm baritone, despite the rampant storm around him.  “But you were on the right track.  That wasn’t the only reason I had you separated.” 

“Honestly,” there was a slight disappointment to his cadence – and something like longing as well, something that only Kuroko noticed, “I was hoping we could talk it out.  

“But I guess I’m not the only one who’s changed…right, Tetsu?” 

A voracious snarl, a blur of indistinct color, and an immense pressure slammed full force into his chest later, Kagami found himself flat on his back and staring straight at the ceiling. 

Though not for long.  

Fenrir’s visage appeared in his field of vision, the synchronized bangs of Hyuuga and Aida’s Evokers ringing out somewhere further off.  He was quick to get back on his feet, but Fenrir was faster, lunging at him again. 

But he missed, Kagami thanked whatever deities heard his prayer in mid-dash, backing off in the opposite direction of the rogue Persona.  The winter winds whipping around obstructed the others from him, creating such a thick veil that the once crowded hallway now seemed boundless.  Or was it that Aomine had put up a different kind of Barrier?  

Whatever the case, Fenrir had recovered from Kagami’s quick parry and turned to him with an incensed roar.  

He needed a plan and fast.  It would be virtually impossible to dodge him again, Kagami knew, and his veins surged with the impulse to fly rather than fight this one. 

_No._

Kagami dug his heels into the linoleum, a burst of something like adrenaline seizing his attention and holding his gaze to the ferocious beast before him.  No.   

No more running. 

No more, he decided right then and there.  As it was, he ended up in a near coma for a week the last time he got spooked.  

_So no more running away_ , he resolved – and, as if Fenrir could sense his determination, the Persona stilled and ceased that infernal growling.  _If a shortstock with a broomstick has more balls than you, then you’d better shape up, Taiga.  Stand up and fight._

**_P_** _ersona or not, you’ve never lost a fight back in America.  And now’s definitely not the time to start._

“Kagami-kun!”  

Kuroko’s voice shouted from behind him, just audible enough to be heard over the flurry of his frantic thoughts.  He resisted the urge to turn, not daring to lose in the dire staring contest he was locked in. 

“Kuroko!  How far away from me are you?” 

“Right behind you,” The blue-haired boy replied, nudging the taller boy’s side and making him start. 

“W-Would you stop **doing** that—?” 

“Don’t move, please.”  _Always so damn polite_ , Kagami groused inwardly, though he derailed that train of thought once he realized Fenrir had crouched and looked prepared to pounce again.  “I’ll take over from here, if you don’t mind.” 

“Like hell I don’t mind!”  Kagami held out his palm to the smaller male without turning back.  “Pass me that Evoker and let me handle this.” 

The pause and his slight intake of breath made it clear Kuroko was still debating how safe this plan was.  “Kagami-kun, are you sure?” 

“Never been so sure of anything before in my life,” retorted the redhead, glancing back just long enough for Kuroko to catch sight of his unrestrained grin.  “We’ll work together and bring this animal back to its cage, just like we did the Shadow that night.  Only this time, I’m not planning on passing out.”  

Fenrir gave an impatient howl, drawing the boys’ attention back to his hunched form.  Perhaps because he had considered holding back since Kuroko was with Kagami, but he looked done with his self-reflection now, oversized paws swatting the ground.  

They had ten seconds, at most. 

“I’ll be right behind you.”  _Nine_.Kuroko seemed intent on reminding Kagami, but Kagami didn’t need promises or a prayer.  “As always.” 

“I know.”  But he did appreciate Kuroko’s help ( _eight, seven, six_ ), no matter how much he protested.  He’d be hard-pressed to ever admit it, though.  “You’ve got my back and I’ve got yours.  That’s how this thing works, yeah?” 

“If what the two of us have,” Kuroko allowed himself a small smile ( _five, four…_ ) as he pressed the Evoker into Kagami’s open palm, “could be called a ‘thing,’ anyway.” 

“Don’t worry,” Kagami said, casual tone quite a juxtaposition considering the barrel of the gun was held tight to his left temple ( _…three, two…_ ) and the fighting stance he assumed.  “You’ll get **this** thing back soon enough…since our ‘thing’ is kicking Shadow and Persona ass together n’ all.” 

_One_. 

(Fenrir roared and sprang forward. 

Kuroko conjured a lance as tall as he was. 

in the midst of their headlong run for their enemy,

Kagami pulled the trigger

and all the while,

he kept his eyes wide open.)

 


	9. 「 chaos theory。 」

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning for anyone actually reading this: from here on out, chapter updates will be much more sporadicafter this, as I still have to move the next three chapters from the "rough draft wow what is this steaming pile of wordvomit go edit that properly already" stage to the "ready to be posted" stage.

Aida never saw anyone move so fast. 

Her aura reading skills were the best among common company, but she wasn’t too shabby compared to other Persona users and magically-inclined on the Island, either.  Though Penthesilea was more inclined to combat-based abilities, she could scan for an enemy’s strengths and weaknesses on her own as well, a useful technique in battles past. 

But this was different. 

This, she realized (shifting her position to every direction possible just to keep an eye on their opponent, knees quaking at the sheer **power** emanating from Aomine as he danced circles around them casting one spell after another) was something else. 

This, she realized (all the agility and confidence in the world not nearly enough for Hyuuga to keep up with this irregular pace, the flow of battle quickly turning with every Mazio thrown hammered back to the ground by each Bufudyne to follow, a staccato rhythm to the uneven blows and the increasingly desperate shouts on Aida’s part to the constantly cornered Hyuuga) was on a much higher plane than anything they had ever faced before. 

This, she realized, was the power of the Generation of Miracles.  

Call for backup.  Right.  Her sight never leaving the fray, Aida reached into her pocket for her cell phone until she realized – _the Barrier_.  Only what Momoi permitted would function here, no doubt.  The Generation of Miracles’ intelligence agent was a smart girl, after all.  

This was probably as much a part of their plan as luring the four of them together and isolating them in the first place.    

With how much of a struggle it was for Hyuuga to keep up, Aida knew, Aomine would likely turn on her next.  The snow drifts refused to cease, thick as the fog hanging over the Gekkoukan dorm windows at early morning; the squalls kept on as relentless as ever, too, putting further pressure on the already damaged corridor windows.  Worse still, Aida couldn’t sense Kagami or Kuroko around them, their auras vanishing with the onslaught of such disconcerting winds.  

What else could she do for now except bide her time and keep Hyuuga – keep all of them – alive?

 

* * *

 

A name floated to the surface of his heightened perception, shouted in earnest over Fenrir’s monstrous roar: 

“It’s all you, Kratos!” 

Kagami’s watched as a wildcat of a beast emerged from the tenuous space between the ground he held fast to and the dimension beyond.  The first time he summoned his Persona, he lost consciousness so fast made it impossible to form a proper impression of the anthropomorphic soldier.  

Now was different, though. 

Just as he recalled, Kratos surpassed his own height just by standing on two feet, glistening chain-mail and iron-plated panoply not nearly as imposing as those scarlet eyes, intent to stare down the enemy charging toward them.  Gold and red patches covered the prominent silver fur bulging out from beneath Kratos’s armor – alluding to blood and battle scars, perhaps, that the Persona retained from lifetimes (and combats) previous – and its tiger-striped tail flicked at the frozen tiles below its bare pawlike feet.

As if the other Persona were weightless, it caught Fenrir in mid-stride by the panther’s hind legs, hurling Fenrir a good ten meters past where Kuroko and Kagami stood.   

Fenrir let out a distrait yowl and crumbled against the wall Kratos threw it against.  Kratos appeared rather pleased with itself, shaking his fist at his fallen foe.  

“Not bad.”  Kagami gave his Persona a hard tap to its chestplate.  Beneath its helmet, the oversized feline seemed to smile.  Kuroko nodded in approval as well, taking tepid steps toward the collapsed Fenrir. 

“You think he’s faking so we’ll turn around and leave ourselves open?”  Kagami felt the need to ask, not willing to put anything past Aomine’s Persona at this point.  

“I’m not sure.”  The blue-haired boy nudged the motionless Fenrir with the blunt tip of his spear.  

Not even a slight twitch.  

“It was a pretty impressive throw,” Kuroko sighed, at last deeming the situations safe enough to let his weapon return to the Otherside from whence it came.  “I doubt any Persona could get up after being tossed like that.” 

With this statement, Fenrir dissipated into the slowing snow drifts around them.  Tempests settling down somewhat, the pair turned to the blurred, clashing figures at the far end of the hall.  

Blue and black, with yellow and platinum trailing close behind.  

“There they are!”  Before darting off to join the faraway skirmish, though, Kagami held out the Evoker to the part-Shadow teen.  “You’re gonna need this, too, right?  To summon your Persona.” 

Kuroko shook his head.  “Keep it; you could use it more than I could.  Besides,” there was a certain bleakness to his next words, “I swore to myself after the incident a year ago I would never summon my Persona unnecessarily.” 

“Then what about a week ago,” frowned Kagami, unsure whether asking an outright _why_ would be too forward, “when you took down that huge Shadow thing attacked outside the dorm?” 

“I’m a Shadow, Kagami-kun.”  There was an odd glint to his eyes when he said it – and an even stranger lightness his tone took on, the confidence of someone speaking from experience.  “And while I admire your ability to summon another facet of yourself to fight, I choose to fight without my Persona’s support…just as a Shadow ought to.”  

Before Kagami could offer another rebuke, Hyuuga shot through the lightening mist and fell back-first on the floor.  

“Senpai!”  Kagami and Kuroko ran to check on their winded upperclassman, their earlier disagreement all but forgotten.  “You okay?” 

“Don’t worry about me,” Hyuuga groaned, gritting his teeth as he sat up slowly with help from Kuroko.  “I’d be a hell of a lot more worried about Aomine…speedstard’ll probably be on our asses in less than five seconds—”  

“Guess again,” chuckled a familiar baritone from behind them.  

Kuroko turned and re-summoned his spear, the prong pointed at Aomine’s throat.  Kratos, resurfacing behind Kagami, brandished its battle-axe and glowered at Fenrir, rematerialized and peering out from around its master’s hip.  Aida arose from the floating fog, kneeling down with Penthesilea to offer Hyuuga and Polydeuceus a helping hand and another Diarama spell.  

The overwhelming numbers and Personas against him a seeming nonfactor, Aomine threw his head back and **laughed** , as if there weren’t four ireful gazes set on him.  The snowstorm, revivified by Aomine’s delight, accelerated once more. 

“I can’t believe you people,” Aomine practically cackled, nudging Fenrir with a light push of his ankle.  “Better put, I can’t believe you thought you had my Persona on the ropes!  Like I’d let anything that represents me go down that easy.” 

“Then why not stop with the games,” Aida glowered, Kagami’s grunt of approval joining her next proposition, “and fight us man-to-man already?” 

“And no more parlor tricks,” Hyuuga added while leaning on Aida’s shoulder for support.  “You’ve shown us more than enough of those.” 

“If your business is with me,” Kuroko proposed, brevity matched by the brusque apex of his javelin, “then no need to involve the others.  Let’s talk, just the two of us – uninterrupted, preferably.” 

A flagrant sigh, followed by a wave of his hand.  Fenrir’s sapphire orbs flashed with frustration, but he obeyed Aomine’s unvoiced request and faded into the background of the Barrier once more.  Hyuuga and Aida refused to relax, unmoved by Aomine’s show of surrender.  

“What Tetsu wants, Tetsu gets.”  Aomine nodded – and then, as if reading the atmosphere: “You’re all welcome to go any time, you know.  He’s made it pretty clear you’re not needed anymore.” 

Kuroko walked toward him but refused to retract his lance’s blade from Aomine’s throat.  The other three took a few reluctant paces backward, knowing the odds were indeed against them.  No one seemed keen on doing as Aomine asked, but what other options did they have?  This fight had gone on long enough in a vain swim toward victory.  

The gap between their Potentials was immeasurably great, more than any of them had expected. 

“Fine,” Kagami rumbled, beckoning Kratos to burrow back into his conscience and pocketing the Evoker Kuroko gave him.  “We’ll wait ‘till you get to some kind of agreement.  Just hurry up so we can all go home already!” 

“Oh, you’ll get to go home soon enough.”  Smirking, Aomine waited until Kuroko at length dropped his javelin as well, turning to the other three.  “This’ll be done and over with faster than you can say ‘the Dark Hour’s over’…if you catch my drift.” 

Aomine’s crooked smile was the only warning received before frozen javelins dropped from the ceiling, creating a partition between them. 

Except there were a pair of well-timed projectiles which didn’t land in front of their intended targets.  One struck between Hyuuga and Riko’s connected shoulders, separating the upperclassmen and sending them hurtling to the floor.  

The other headed straight for Kagami. 

Thanks to his Persona’s quick reflexes, though, it was Kratos who ended up struck and pinned to the ground by the stalactite, letting out a strangled cry.  But Kagami still felt the residuals of such a mortal wound, crumpling to the linoleum and coughing up the blood his Persona would likely never shed.  

_No,_ Kuroko realized, visage seized by trepidation, _the red gathering around them is Kratos’s and Kagami-kun’s…Aomine-kun must have tapped into Fenrir’s magical affinity without summoning him, enough to do damage to his Persona and the user…just like I’ve learned to with—_     

“Well,” Aomine spoke mildly, as if he weren’t responsible for the winded and bewildered SEES trio lying on the ground before him, “that takes care of the competition.” 

“Isn’t this what you wanted, Tetsu?”  An azure gaze regarded Kuroko with a near patronizing glance-over, taking in the boy’s small frame; reminiscing, perhaps, a time when they hadn’t stood on opposite sides.  “To stand on your own and prove you could control your Potential…to find out what Tartarus was all about, investigating it your own way.” 

“Or maybe you were just trying to convince yourself?” Aomine let out a slight chuckle, seeing the blue-haired male’s eyes widen in sudden recollection of buried memories – lying dormant for the past year, withheld like the other side of himself the same way the suppression pills did, the memories of lifeless, spectral hands grabbing hold and pulling him down into the abyss leading to the Shadow realm, the formless beasts running their tendrils over his prone form and slipping into his mouth stretched open in silent prayer ( _please, don’t hurt the others like the scientists already have; they don’t deserve to be sacrificed, not like this; take me instead, if it means I can protect everyone who protected me all this time; please, please, **please**_ ) – as he fell to his knees.  “You always were the naïve one between us.  Wanting to ‘protect everyone’ and keep the peace and all that.” 

He couldn’t admit to it, but he couldn’t deny the truth, either.  Kuroko stared at the other SEES members struggling to pick themselves off the floor.  

Hyuuga, who appeared nothing short of dogmatic as he lifted his battered form on shaking palms and unsteady soles.  

Aida, who hovered over the unmoving teen who had taken the hardest blow, summoning Penthesilea again and again in hopes of revitalizing the redhead to no avail. 

“You always said you’d stick by us to the bitter end, though.”  Aomine’s expression softened a considerable amount, cradling Kuroko’s face with a gentleness that brought back other memories – happier memories, brighter images behind lashes fluttering shut; memories of carefree camaraderie, of stolen nighttime escapades and adventures in the local marketplace and park outside the facilities, of shared ice pops and rebounding laughter and warm, warm hands, the same hands that rooted him to the spot even now, distance erased with the kind of ease not felt in over a year’s time) – as their resonant stares met.  “And I kept holding you to that promise, Tetsu.  We all did.” 

Kagami – who refused to wake up, whose hospital robe was swathed in blood, whose Evoker had fallen a few feet from Kuroko after dropping it outright when the frozen spine sliced through him – who swore to stand by him to the very end. 

_The bitter end…_

(It was Aomine’s eyes that widened now as Kuroko pulled away from him, retrieved Kagami’s fallen Evoker from the tiled floor, and put the barrel of the gun to the very center of his forehead.) 

_The end which leads to…_

(A shuddering inhale.  Kuroko let his eyes snap shut, slowly, countenance settled by a sudden serenity that left Aida and Hyuuga a bit more than rattled, given the current circumstances.) _  
_

_‘The Fall’ which will be inevitable by the coming spring…_

(Visions appeared behind closed lids, prophecies and murmured sentiments incipient from parted lips; _the end is nigh, humankind must repent for their sins, the duty of the Appriser and the Contract made must be fulfilled for the harbinger’s cometh—)_

Cerulean oceans flooded Kuroko’s vision, gradually turning into red seas which swallowed him whole, consumed him, and sent him spiraling into the all-too-welcoming darkness.

 

* * *

 

 

Momoi froze in mid-step, forcing Kise to have to step back so he wouldn't bowl her over from behind.

“What's wrong, Momocchi?”  The blond pressed a hand to the small of her back, peering over her shoulder.  “Did you leave something back in the office?”

“Ki-chan,” answered Momoi in a barely audible whisper, slow turn on her heel revealing her frightened visage.  “I just sensed Astraeus on the seventh floor.”

His Evoker hit the tiled floor with an echoing finality.  This wasn't going according to plan at all.  This wasn't even part of the plan.

“No way.”  His voice hitched at the last syllable.  “A-Are you sure?  I mean, it could've been a mista—”

Before Kise could even finish rationalizing the thought himself, Momoi bolted for the emergency stairwell, already kicking the door open before Hermes could trail hurriedly after her.

“Momocchi!”  Calling after her was useless at this point, though; the pink-haired analyst was out of earshot.  Thankfully, Hermes's vision let him see the last glimpse his Persona caught of her face and that was answer enough.

Momoi was afraid. 

Momoi, the strongest girl he knew, was **afraid**. 

Kise knelt down to pick up his Evoker in shaking palms, gripping the handle, recalling another time when he couldn't hold his Evoker without trembling from head to toe.

He knows no amount of faith or optimism can change the past now (frightful eyes, wide and begging, the Shadows whipping their tendrils over their interlocked fingers, pulling them apart; _it's alright, you can let go now; if we're really half of the same whole, then Akashi-kun doesn't have to suffer like this; even though it hurts, I can bear it for Kise-kun and the others, so don't cry anymore_ ) but Kise realized that no matter how much he claimed he had grown up since their 'home' burned down, wishes unfulfilled would always hurt more than the downtrodden forgotten hopes from back then.

 _Kurokoccchi,_ he thinks, the name mouthed against the barrel of his Evoker more prayer than good-luck wish,  _please be okay until we get there._

 


End file.
